


Beyond That

by Clockwork



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Modern, Modern AU, Poker, Texas, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 12:11:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16534319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clockwork/pseuds/Clockwork
Summary: Joshua Faraday is the master grand champion of poker and he gets into a little fun game at his favorite club. 50K stakes, good friends at the table, and a beautiful stranger looking to be tested. Looking for a one night stand leads to breakfast, and more.Inspired by this picture:





	Beyond That

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AndreaLyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndreaLyn/gifts).



Joshua wasn’t in town often, less so in the last few weeks since he’d won the Masters Grand Championship of poker. He’d been playing the circuit for years, winning enough throughout the years to pay for a nice condo overlooking the River Walk, keep him in fancy boots and expensive hats, and pay for the next plane to whatever city was hosting the latest game. Professional tournaments. Private all in games. Whatever would keep him in the game, even if not always in the money. 

Sure it meant he didn’t see his sister on a regular basis, hadn’t been there when his niece and nephew were born, and while he made sure they had gifts for everything that passed for a holiday and from every city he played in, he wasn’t truly a good uncle to them. 

It also meant that finding a relationship was not the easiest thing in the world, but he wasn’t sure that was something to worry about. He wasn’t looking for one, after all. So long as when he wanted company, he had it, that was all that mattered. Which wasn’t hard, he had to admit. Good looking, tight jeans, a winning smile and money in his pocket. Joshua worried less about finding company, than finding company that turned him on as much as sitting down at the felt did.

There was no shortage of beautiful women and charming men visiting with him, but not many lasted beyond a night, maybe two. Some didn’t even make it into the stage where he actually knew a name, nor had bothered giving his own, even if they were hanging around the table, they likely knew the name Joshua Faraday. 

Leaving behind Vegas after a short flight to Texas, Joshua pondered heading home but gave the service driver another address. There was no recognition from it, and he nearly laughed when the driver asked him if he was sure he wanted to be left there in an area known for warehouses and storage space but little more. 

Nearly twenty years earlier it was known as a stockyards, one of the largest in the country, moving millions of heads of cattle through the outskirts of town daily. It had been a historical site and well known around the country. Now it was little more than a lot of identical buildings where fair trade sometimes took place. 

And in the middle of them, in a large, sprawling warehouse with the windows blacked out and the wall double insulated was hidden the Union. An upscale club with private members, an atmosphere that was part speakeasy and part Boogie Nights, and a reputation for providing a good time, whether you were looking for scotch older than you were, a game of cards, or a private room and some companionship.  
For once, Joshua was heading in the door looking more for the latter than the formers… though all of it sounded good about then.

Leaving his bags with the coat check with a generous tip, he headed for the bar and not the back room where tables were set up. He might be dressed a bit much with the tailored and stitched jacket he had worn for the interview with its over the top country flair and the skin tight jeans he wore with tooled leather boots. Even the shirt beneath the jacket was expensive linen, a near shimmering shade of cream, though there was none of those tacky pearl buttons at least.

Striding across the room, he barely made it halfway before a man in a hand tailored suit and a spine as tough as steel caught up with him.

“Good to see you again, Mr Faraday.”

“Mr Chisolm, what can I do you for?”

Manager, part time bouncer, full time spotter of trouble, Sam Chisolm had run the Union since its inception, keeping the peace and ensuring that none of the upscale clients found reason to bad mouth the place, nor the local city government found reason to shut them down.

“I think it’s what I can do for you,” he said, flashing a bright smile, moving to guide Joshua without touching him, taking them away from the bar. “There’s a game starting in the Rose Creek room. A gentleman came in a few hours ago, asking for a game tonight. Goodnight and his companion are already here, and we were waiting on Bart, but he’s backed down on us. As it stands, I don’t have a player strong enough to fill that last seat.”

“And yet you didn’t call me for whatever this game is?”

“You were on the news this morning from Las Vegas. I didn’t want to rush you back from your celebratory tour.”

Joshua glanced at him, knowing that it wasn’t in Chisolm to lie to him. If he had thought he could have him in that game, he would have called him. 

“Okay, so what’s so special about this gentleman,” he asked, sketching quotes on the air with his fingers. “I mean, you’ve got a lot of middle of the road players that you could put on that table, let him be a high roller and come back and fleece him then.”

“One, Mr Faraday, you know I don’t fleece players. Two, he’s got money. He wanted a big time game, and…” He paused, considering for a few minutes before adding. “He specifically asked me not to let him win.”

Joshua snorted, glancing towards the stairs that led to the Stockyard room. “That explains Goodnight and Billy, though I’m thinking you either think this gentleman is playing you, or you are not much liking on Bart these days.” He smirked at that, never having held a particular soft spot for the bastard from San Francisco. “Who’s dealing?”

“Emma.”

“Get me a bottle, and I’ll go introduce myself,” he said, giving the older man a wink. “And I’m not playing this easy.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Mr Faraday.”

Grinning at that, Joshua stepped up to the suited gentleman at the foot of the staircase who didn’t hesitate at all as he opened the velvet cord that crossed the stairs. He took the stairs slowly, letting the heel of his boot thump against the plush carpet along the risers, tapping at the door before he opened it without waiting.

“Oh ho,” Goodnight Robicheaux whooped, dropping his feet down from the waiting seat and rising with a chuckle. “Joshua Faraday. Well, now. This just became a game, didn’t it? Come on in and have a seat. Let me get you drink.”

Moving to a side table, Goodnight glanced around. Billy, dressed in all black and slumped in the seat to the right of the dealer, rose one hand, a finger extended. Goodnight nodded, looking to the man at the dealer’s left. 

“And you, Mr Vasquez?”

“Now that our last player is here, sure. I have to say, I’m impressed. I asked for a challenging game, but I never thought Chisolm would bring you to this game, Mr Faraday.”

Mr Vasquez spoke softly with a rich accent. While he was talking to Goodnight, his dark gaze was entirely on Joshua. He strode over, listening to the clink of ice on crystal as the drinks were made. 

“I admit, you’ve got an advantage on me, Mr Vasquez. He told me nothing about you. Not even a name.”

He gave a nod, and gestured towards Goodnight.

“Mr Robicheaux, if you would?”

“What? You got Goodnight doing your intro?”

“Oh knock it off, Josh. He already ran it down for me and Billy, so why should he have to again when I’m the wordsmith here?”

Joshua rolled his eyes, pulling out the remaining chair and settling in. “Since when does introductions need a wordsmith?”

Coming over with two glasses carefully balanced between the fingers of each hand, he circled the table to hand them out.

“When we have one helluva table coming together,” he said, taking his own chair.

“First of all we have an old man from deep south who has been playing poker since long before Josh was born,” he teases, taking a drink. “A man that has been two wars and without Billy here would be a dead man. Which brings us to the friend and companion that has kept me company for night on a decade now since I finally hung up my uniform and admitted I wanted more to spend time traveling with my unit’s Lieutenant than giving him commands.”

Josh smiled, his expression less mocking in that moment because he’s heard Goodnight and Billy’s story before, but that didn’t stop the fact that he actually likes the pair. They’re good men who had been through a lot, and they’d come out mostly whole on the other side. Not that he didn’t taunt Goodnight from time to time, especially since he could rile him up just so and get him to ruin a damn good hand in Josh’s favor.

“Then we have Joshua Faraday,” he said, grinning as he lifted his glass in toast. Josh returned the gesture. “Cardsharp. Manipulator. The man of no tells,” he said, quoting a name that had followed Faraday on the poker circuit for years. “And after years of finding himself coming up empty handed, the recent winner of the title of Master Grand Champion. And all the money, women, and attention that comes with that. ”

Billy clapped softly, the leather fingerless gloves he wore muting the sound. 

“Which brings us to Mr Vasquez,” Josh pointed out, shifting slightly in his chair to face the man rather than Goodnight and his “wordsmithing”. 

“Just Vasquez.”

“Alright then,” Josh said with a nod. “Mr Just Vasquez then,” he said, knowing just what he was doing. Hearing Goodnight snicker was payment enough for his very bad joke.

“Vasquez here is pretty well known in the right parts of the world,” Goodnight pointed out, very pointedly in that he picked up his coaster and flicked it at Josh. It hit him in the shoulder but didn’t draw his gaze. 

“His great grandfather is one of the most infamous horsemen of Mexico. He’s had two lines go to the Kentucky Oaks, another for the Derby, and has raised some of the greatest lines of horses out of Mexico up to and including into our lifetime. His father not only keeps that lineage alive, but he’s also owner of several resorts in Mexico and South America, as well as a few here in Texas. Including a hotel near the Alamo that is plastered with the faces not of the American heroes that died in that battle, but that of his Mexican ancestors and natives who died there, including said great grandfather’s brother, and his uncle as well.”

Josh glances at Goodnight then. “And you learned this while Chisolm was rounding up someone else for this game?”

“Oh no. I’ve known about this man and his family for some time. I’ve won quit a bit of money betting on their horses.”

“And you’re welcome,” Vasquez said, nodding at Goodnight. The man lifted his glass, receiving a toast in return.

“And the Vasquez sitting right in front of us, what is it he does? Besides looking like the most interesting man in the world in his black cashmere sweater and his Lucchese boots?” Joshua asked, purposefully wording it in a way to show that he notices a lot, which is one of the ways he loves to use when trying to unnerve other players.

Billy snickered at that. “I like that. I forgot I like you, Faraday.”

He winked at the Asian, always having liked him. And not just because he’s quiet and leaves more openings for Josh and his humor. No matter how dark and cruel it could sometimes be.

“Our new friend, Vasquez, is a man much like Cher. He only needs one name, and it’s his surname. I would say it’s to take advantage of his family’s prestige and money, but I think Joshua named the truth. It’s all about being the most interesting man in the world. He’s ridden cross country through the Sarah. He’s broken wild horses in South America. He jumps out of planes, and runs with bulls, and turns down women who, from what I have been told, one even scaled a building to get into his room.”

“We sure she wasn’t bailing out the window and he just has good PR?” 

Joshua’s words are meant to be sharp and cutting, but the way he’s watching Vasquez is anything but. He’d come to the Union that night looking for some company. Despite getting pulled into the game, there was no reason to believe it wouldn’t end that way. Not if he handled this right.

“Is this how you win games, Guero? Annoy people until they fold.”

Goodnight slapped the table. “I told you, Billy. This game is going to be fun. Don’t you think so, Emma?”

She rolled her eyes, picking up a sealed box and setting it onto the table. 

“You’re all paid in, part of the Union’s most prefered customers,” she said, looking around the table. “We play for three hours. Any problems and Mr Chisolm throws you out. You don’t tip me, and you’re never welcome again,” she said, a tiny smile curving her lips. “Come out above Mr Faraday and Mr Chisolm says your tab is on him.”

“Hey!”

Laughter rang out around the table, Vasquez joining in with a smile that caused something to twist in Joshua’s gut. God but he likes seeing that. There’s something so wicked about the curve of his mouth, the way his eyes light up when he smiles like that. Something so true and so authentic. It wasn’t the game that Joshua suddenly found himself focused on but what he might do to gain that smile in a much more intimate setting.

***

“And that is time, Gentleman.”

None of the four around the table had heard the door open, nor Sam Chisolm walking in. The whiskey had flowed, cards had been played, and the jokes and sarcasm had been laid down thick. 

Goodnight, three sheets to the wind and down by thousands, pushed back from the table and rose with a groan. “I’m getting too old for this shit. I don’t know how you do it, Joshua. A game of the hours you’ve been playing and I would just end up face down on the table.”

Stacking his chips for the final payout, Faraday laughed as he downed the rest of his whiskey with a pop of his lips. “Goodnight, I suspect if Billy is not quick in pouring you into a cab, you’re going to end up face down in the street so maybe those hours were one too many for you.”

Chuckling, Billy rose, steady and seemingly untouched despite the amount of alcohol he’d consumed with the rest of them. “I promise I will not let him fall. If only that he’s likely to drag me down with him. Mr Chisolm, you’ll settle us for the night?”

“As always, Mr Rocks. Though…” He eyes the stacks of chips on the table. “I do think that you have both lost a bit tonight. I hope you won’t let it keep you away.”

Goodnight waved a hand dismissively as he sidled up against Billy, sliding an arm around his waist. “That is never a worry, Chisolm. Do remember our standed to our darling, Miss Emma, please?”

“Then she won’t have you branded,” he said, smirking as he moved to open the door for the pair. “Your car is waiting outside. Good evening to you both, Mr Rocks and Mr Robicheaux.”

Joshua rose, clapping Goodnight on the shoulder. “The seventeenth at my place?”

“Definitely. We’ll bring the whiskey, you bring the side of beef?”

“It’ll be on the smoker,” he assured them, watching as the pair made their way down the stairs. More that Billy made it sure that Goodnight made it down in one piece. Josh turned to where Emma and Vasquez still say at the table. Throughout the game he tried to keep track of where they stood. Eyeing the stacks of chips, it was close, and he hated that. Despite that wicked smile and the way his accent seemed to rumble through Josh in the best and worst possible ways. There was no one pretty enough to make Faraday throw a game, or give away money. 

“Well?”

Vasquez looked up from where he was sitting back in his chair, long legs stretched out before him. “Well what, Guero?”

“I was welling Emma, thank you very little, “ he said. “I’m curious to see where we stand. You’re good, but I’m betting you know that. You should think about maybe getting a foot into the circuit with the way you play.”

Coming over to sit next to Vasquez, he pulled a sterling case out of the inner pocket of his jacket. The case is silver, embossed and polished with an inlay of mother of pearl on the front of it with a large spade in the middle like the Ace of Spades would be. He opened it, removing a cigarillo and offering the case to the other man. 

Smoking indoors was not allowed in the city limits. Smoking at Chisolm’s tables even if you ignored the ordinance was a crime punishable by more than a fine. He took great pride in the presentation, in the cleanliness of the place, and no one was willing to be thrown out of Union for that. Pulling them out was not illegal, and smoking away from the table after a game was likely overlooked. Especially in the Rose Creek room.

He took one, considering Joshua with that sharp gaze as he did. Waiting as the other man put down the case after offering Chisolm one. Not saying a word as Emma moved to bring a small table and crystal ashtray to sit beside them and he pulled out a matching box that held wooden matches. Lighting one, he held it out for Vasquez instead of offering him the case. 

Their eyes held as the other man leaned in, drawing against the tobacco leaf wrapper, smoke beginning to curl up as neither spoke. 

Smirking at Vasquez, realizing that maybe even with the delay of hours that Joshua’s original plans weren’t too far off course. Vasquez was handsome enough, and damn but that smile could twist Joshua up, he realized. Smart too, and a good player, so it wasn’t just picking a pretty face, though he supposed he’d need to see the ass before he made a final determination. 

Lighting his own, he leaned back, still watching the other man playful. “So, Emma? Would you like to tell us who won?”

Before she could speak, Vasquez chuckled. “Oh? You don’t know?”

Joshua snorted, rolling his eyes as he exhaled, bluish smoke swirling around his head. “I’m sorry. You’re telling me you can just look at a stack of chips and calculate them in your head? Really, you expect me to believe that?”

“Oh no, I can’t do that at all,” he said, waving his hand to gesture to the two stacks on the table. 

“See, that’s what I thought.” Sitting back in his chair, kicking his feet out in front of him between the two of them as he slipped the the cigarillo back between his lips.

“I guess someone could do that, but I just kept track of things during the game.”

“You did what?” Joshua’s eyes rolled back, head canting as he all but glared at Vasquez. “You’re telling me that you ran the math of all our bets during the game?”

Vasquez nodded, giving Joshua a blink. “And I made exactly one hundred dollars more than you from Goodnight and Billy.”

“Oh right. As if you know that.”

“He’s right, Mr Faraday,” Emma pronounced, sounding damn smug and not even trying to hide it.

“He…” Faraday sat up instantly, looking around the room before his gaze came to fix on Vasquez. “You counted cards, didn’t you? Is that why you’re so good?”

“Is card counting how you are so good?”

“No!”

“Then there is your answer,” he said, that accent rumbling through the words, as warm and somehow smug as his smile. “I counted the chips, not the cards. I am good. I am not a computer.”

“You’re something,’ Joshua said, stubbing out his cigarillo. “Emma, gimme a new pack.”

She pulled out the pack and paused, glancing up and not at Joshua.

Sam Chisolm stepped forward. “May I ask what you are planning, Mr Faraday?” 

Despite the fact that he spoke it as a question, they both knew there was no option in answering that question. No matter what else went on, the Union was Sam’s home, his business, and he was God over the entire place as it was. So no matter what it is that Joshua wants to do, Sam has to approve it or it won’t happen.

“A game of blind man’s bluff. Three rounds. Best of three takes everything,” he said, moving to push his stack closer to the middle between himself and Vasquez. “All a game of chance. You came here willing to lose it all to poker. Willing to risk it all to chance?”

Vasquez twisted the cigarillo against his bottom lip, his tongue playing against the tightly rolled leaves as his dark gaze stayed on the other man, watching him silently. It’s an image that Joshua wants to freeze forever. If for no other reason than he’s fairly certain he could use that image for weeks to come while alone in the shower. 

“Guero, you are a fool. A handsome fool, but a fool,” he said, moving to push his chips over, letting the towers fall and slide across the felt. “I will even let you shuffle and deal. If Mr Chisolm is amenable.” 

Sam watched the pair for a long moment before lifting his gaze to Emma. He gave her a nod, and with it so rose. 

“Goodnight then gentleman, do try and clean up after yourselves.” And with that she circled the table and let Sam open the door for her so she could leave. 

“I will stay and watch the game,” Chisolm said. “No interference, no judgment. Only to oversee the game in case there are any questions. Though I will not apologize to Goodnight and Billy that they weren’t here to see this.”

“If Goodnight had stayed, he’d be passed out by now,” Joshua pointed out, peeling the plastic from the cards and beginning to shuffle the cards with tight movements and yet with an ease as though he never looked away from Vasquez.

“You know how to play right?”

Then Vasquez rolled his eyes, picking up one of the chips and flicking it at Faraday. 

“A three year old knows how to play this game. How are we going to bluff. We’re both all in. So explain how we will do this?”

“You will each tell the other how certain they are if they have beat the other,” Sam said, moving to stand between the pair of them. “Or if they have failed to win. The one that is closest then in guessing their card wins that hand. Does that seem fair?”

Joshua looked to Vasquez, arching a brow. 

Smiling that wide, wicked smile, Vasquez nodded. “I believe that will work. Shall I draw first?”

Chuckling, Faraday fanned the cards out with one hand, holding them out to the other man.

***

“Don’t forget to leave a tip for Emma, Mr Faraday,” Sam said, giving them both a nod before turning to leave the room. 

The table was clear, all of the chips put away, the cards tossed as they had already been opened, and in a few a housekeeper would be there to clean the room as always so it would be perfect and ready for the next game. 

For now though the pair stood there, facing one another as they finished a second cigarillo. No words to Sam, nothing said to the man as he left them alone. 

“Well…” Joshua said, cigarillo hanging from his mouth so that the smoke swirled about his face and he squints against the sting of it. “You have the honor of saying something no one else can right now. You just beat the current world grand champion of poker.”

“Twice, Guero,” Vasquez said, holding up two fingers. “Don’t forget I did it twice,” he said, smirking. “I suppose I should say drinks are on me, but I don’t think I can handle another one. You and your pickled liver have bested me on that.”

“And a win for me,” he crowed, causing both of them to laugh. “But you are right. You have done so twice, and for that I think that I am the one that owes you a drink,” he said, moving to his feet and remarkably steady despite all he’s had to drink, pausing to grinding out the rest of his cigarillo in the crystal ashtray they had liberally used since the end of the official game. “I think it’s because I’ve yet to figure out your tell. You have to have one. So, why not give me one more chance to figure you out.”

Closing the small gap between them, he braced one hand on the back of Vasquez’s seat as he brushed his fingers along his jaw, enjoying the sensation of stubble against his fingers as he caught Vasquez just under the chin. Using that touch to lightly lift Vasquez’s face so that Joshua could kiss a mouth he’d been fantasizing about all night. 

Delighted in that moment, finding the kiss returned, smiling as he felt Vasquez shift lightly into the kiss, deepening it for a moment.

“Come home with me.” Murmuring the words with his lips still against Vasquez’s, not wanting to move away in case he only had the one chance.

“On one condition.” Up close that accent almost felt as rich as it sounded, and Joshua was too drunk to hide the shiver that ran up the length of his spine.

“Name it.” 

Watching Vasquez closely and as near as he was, hoping to maybe see answers that he had somehow missed during the game. Something that would let him read the man, to find answers. There had to be something he was missing, and he hated not knowing. Something would have to be done so that he could catch a break with Vasquez. And maybe challenge him again in the future.

“Breakfast in the morning. None of this kicking me out soon as you’re content and leaving me to cab home.”

“Deal. I’ll even make the breakfast myself,” he offered, taking another kiss as his fingers shifted to cup Vasquez’s cheek. 

Enjoying the scratch of stubble against his palm, liking the taste of whiskey and smoke. Joshua loved intimacy, loved delighting in the sensuality of another. Yet there is something about moments like this when the world is blurry from drink, and his heart is still racing from the adrenaline, when all Joshua wants is a strong solid form beneath his own, to feel the scratch of stubble, and taste the world like this. All intoxication and tobacco, the scent of aftershave woody and warm like mesquite and cinnamon. He hadn’t come into Union expecting to lose fifty thousand, but he was definitely going home with more than he had hoped for when he left his bags at the door.

“Come on then,” he said, moving to take Vasquez’s hand and stepping back to draw him out of the chair. “Sam?”

Standing just outside the door, waiting for them to vacate the room, Chisolm pushed the door open all the way. “Yes, Mr Faraday?”

“Send my bags to my place tomorrow midday? With a service car to take Vasquez home?”

He nodded, staying by the door as the pair passed. “As you wish, Mr Faraday. Do try and place nice,” he said.

Joshua nearly stumbled at that, pausing to look back at the other man as Vasquez slipped from his hand, heading down the stairs with an amused chuckle. “I promise to play nice. After all, he may well be my future protege,” he pointed out, giving the older man a wink.

Sam snorted, rolling his eyes. “Seems you’re thinking the wrong man got schooled in there,” he noted, making Vasquez laugh as he headed for the door.

Shaking his head, Joshua moved to catch up with him, figuring that Sam could have said it,nicer, but he definitely wasn’t wrong.

***

A good night ends with both parties sated and content, curled up against one another and the biggest conflict comes from deciding who is the big spoon and who is the little spoon. A great night less ends as much as it stops when both parties have passed out, the sheets knotted about them, and knowing that it wasn’t the alcohol that left them dehydrated and worn to the bone.

Joshua learned nothing that night about Vasquez’s tells. What he did learn is that the man was insatiable. He was needy as hell with a sharp and wicked tongue that taunted with words, and then soothed the worded barbs in ways that left Joshua reeling. He learned that he was capable of giving more than he ever thought possible, sharing rather than taking as was too much a part of his very nature. 

And he learned he rather liked having someone warm and solid and clingy wrapping themselves around him, not just curling up at his side but half using him for a bed as he fell asleep murmuring promises of breakfast. Satiated, enjoying the sensation of long legs wrapped around his own, of strong arms about his waist, and soft hair against his shoulder as he shifted just enough to rest his cheek atop those curls. When pushed, when more is demanded of him, Joshua gave and gave, not thinking about how much he was getting in return until those last moments before sleep overtook him.

Maybe it was the cool air against his skin, only partially covered by a sheet someone, Vasquez perhaps, had spread over him. Maybe it was sounds that didn’t quite register with Joshua, but that roused him from a very sound and exhausted sleep. Reaching over, he found not only was he alone, but the bed was cold to the touch. Frowning, he sat up and looked around. Some of the clothed mixed with his on the floor were not his own, and a glance at the clock said it was much earlier than he suspected Chisolm would have sent a car. 

Untangling himself from the sheet, Joshua pulled a pair of soft flannel pajamas bottoms from a drawer, hopping into them as he took note of his tee shirt drawer partially open. Frowning, he caught the scent of coffee, and that alone helped ease his uncertainty to how the night may have ended after he fell asleep. Maybe Vasquez couldn’t sleep and had decided to start breakfast himself?

Liking that idea, Joshua went still as he heard a sound. One that didn’t make sense. Pausing and listening as he headed for the stairs. Then it came again. That was a giggle.

Practically skittering down the stairs, he grabbed the end of the bannister, using it to steer him around the railing and into the living room where he came to a sudden stop, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

“Uncle Josh!”

Dressed in jeans and one of Faraday’s tee shirts, Vasquez was sprawled out on his couch, dog piled by two small children that Josh knew well. His niece and nephew.

“Wait, what the…”

Stopping himself as Vasquez roared, sitting up suddenly and tossing them both playfully to the other end of the sofa amidst more laughs and giggles and pleas to do it again.

“Your sister came knocking,” he said, giving Joshua a look as the younger of the two, Teddy, started climbing up Vasquez as if to sit on his shoulders. “She said you promised to take them two weekends ago, you were all over the paper this morning leaving Union with some man, and that you can bring them back on Sunday.”

Repeating this to Joshua, his voice pitched higher to imitate his sister Scarlet and smiling that wide, beautiful smile once more. Imitating her well enough that Jackie laughed, rolling around until she slid off the end of the couch. 

“You were sleeping so sound, I figured I owed you at least a bit longer in bed. Didn’t hear her banging on the door or nothin’.”

“Jooooosh is in troooouble,” Jackie teased, laughing again. Vasquez joined her in that laughter.

“Ooookay then. And you’re okay with…” He waves a hand at the three sprawled out before him, Teddy now sitting on Vasquez’s shoulders. To his credit, he was holding the little guy’s feet, making sure he’s okay. 

“Why wouldn’t I be? Kids are wonderful. You’re lucky to have such sweet kids in your family.

“Well. Okay. So… I should, you know…’ He gestures vaguely behind him. “Go make breakfast.”

“You do that, Guero, and bring me coffee while you’re at it.”

“Breakfast!” Jackie cheered, scrambling to her feet. “And then Six Flags!”

Teddy shrieked, something that would have made Joshua wince and yet made Vasquez laugh again.

“I… I mean…”

“What? You mean yes, darling ninos, of course we will be going to the amusement park.”

“Would you stop? Have you ever taken two small children to a freaking amusement park alone? It’s like Hell on Earth,” he muttered, turning and heading for the kitchen.

“Who said you would be going alone?”

Joshua came to a dead stop, slowly pivoting to turn back to the couch. All three stared at him expectantly.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“About the ninos? No. I would not kid about them. Now, come on. We can’t go until we’ve eaten.”

As the kids cheered, Joshua turned for the kitchen. It was meant to be a one night stand, maybe another game of poker eventually. Now he was taking him to the park with kids. What the hell had happened last night? Did he miss something?

Still not sure what was going on, he moved to open the refrigerator to pull out eggs and other items they would need. Pausing, staring at nothing in particular, he realized something he had never considered with anyone before.

In that moment, listening to them laugh and play in the other room, Faraday really wanted to pursue this and see where it goes. Not just for the day, but maybe beyond that as well.


End file.
